Italy beats Estonia to end winless streak

TALLINN, Estonia (AP)

Antonio Cassano scored one goal and set up another Friday to help Italy come back from a goal down and beat Estonia 2-1 in European Championship qualifying for its first win of the year.

Cassano found the target with a header in the 60th minute, then passed with his heel inside the box three minutes later for Leonardo Bonucci to take advantage of and put Italy in front.

Estonia led 1-0 in the 31st minute on a rainy night at Le Coq Arena when goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu couldn't control a free kick from Konstantin Vassiljev, allowing Sergei Zenjov to score off the rebound.

EURO QUALIFYING - GROUP C

Fri., Jun. 3

Faroe Islands 0-2 Slovenia
Italy 3-0 Estonia | Recap

Tue., Jun. 7

Faroe Islands 2-0 Estonia | Recap

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Scores | Tables | Fixtures

Italy failed to win its first seven games of 2010 - drawing four and losing three - in a streak that included a first-round elimination from the World Cup.

It looked like Italy's dismal World Cup form might continue until Cassano - who was excluded by previous coach Marcello Lippi - took charge.

First, the Sampdoria playmaker was left unmarked and headed in a corner kick from Andrea Pirlo, then he found Bonucci following another corner.

It was Cassano's first goal for Italy since Euro 2004.

Italy hadn't won since beating Sweden 1-0 in a friendly in November of last year. The Azzurri were beaten 1-0 by Ivory Coast in a friendly last month in new coach Cesare Prandelli's debut.

This marked Prandelli's first competitive game.

"In the changing room the guys were fairly discouraged and I told them we could win, that we were playing well and we had a good reaction," Prandelli said, adding that there was still a lot to work on. "We made mistakes on all the dead balls and we allowed too many counter attacks."

Italy, Estonia and Serbia each have three points in Group C.

Sirigu was playing in place of Gianluigi Buffon, who is still recovering from back surgery. The Palermo keeper nearly let in an equalizer in second-half injury time when he misjudged another free kick.

Estonia threatened first when Vassiljev took advantage of a defensive error in the 13th, shooting wide, while Italy's best chance of the first half came three minutes later when a shot from Giampaolo Pazzini was blocked by Estonia goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko.

In the 48th, Estonia nearly made it 2-0 when Sander Puri waltzed through the Azzurri's porous defense and launched a long shot that skimmed the crossbar.

The match was marred by two fan invasions onto the pitch.

Italy next hosts the Faeroe Islands on Tuesday in Florence.

Lineups:

Estonia: Sergei Pareiko, Taavi Rahn, Raio Piiroja, Dmitri Kruglov (Tarmo Kink, 82), Aleksandr Dmitrijev, Sander Puri (Ats Purje, 77), Sergei Zenjov (Kaimar Saag, 64), Martin Vunk, Konstantin Vassiljev, Ragnar Klavan, Enar Jaager.

Italy: Salvatore Sirigu, Cristian Molinaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Daniele De Rossi, Simone Pepe (Fabio Quagliarella, 59), Giampaolo Pazzini, Antonio Cassano (Luca Antonelli, 80), Mattia Cassani, Riccardo Montolivo (Angelo Palombo, 75), Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Pirlo.